BE6068 - Forensic Trace Evidence (2025/26)
| Module specification | Module approved to run in 2025/26 | ||||||||||||||||
| Module title | Forensic Trace Evidence | ||||||||||||||||
| Module level | Honours (06) | ||||||||||||||||
| Credit rating for module | 15 | ||||||||||||||||
| School | School of Human Sciences | ||||||||||||||||
| Total study hours | 150 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Running in 2025/26(Please note that module timeslots are subject to change) |
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Module summary
This module aims to broaden the forensic science content of the course and build on practical statement writing skills that you have started to master in previous modules. The module will consolidate and deepen your understanding of the forensic application of hair and fibres evidence, which you were introduced to in BE4061, and allow a broader understanding of other trace evidence types.
Areas of study will include amongst others, the theory of trace evidence concepts and the microscopy required for identification and comparison of trace evidence. In addition, you will explore how this range of physical evidence can be located and investigated using forensic techniques, alongside the analysis and interpretation of trace evidence.
Alongside this, you will practically explore the retrieval and evaluation of these types of trace evidence with an aim to underpin the role of a trace evidence forensic scientist in the laboratory, at crime scenes, in court and give you an opportunity for to build your statement writing skills from other modules in these evidence types.
The aims of this module are aligned with the qualification descriptors within the Quality Assurance Agency’s, Framework for Higher Education Qualifications.
This module aims to provide you with the qualities and transferable skills necessary for employment requiring the application of personal responsibility and decision-making alongside key forensic evidence knowledge and interpretation.
Prior learning requirements
BE4061, BE5072, BE5073
Syllabus
Types of microscopy needed for examining trace evidence (1)
Composition of glass, paint, hairs, fibres, gunshot residues (1)
Trace evidence concepts, including direct and indirect transfer, retention times and transfer diagrams (2)
Case studies in trace evidence (2)
The role of a forensic trace evidence expert in the laboratory and at a scene, including:
- Contemporaneous notes, recording/recovery/collection of evidence, anti-contamination procedures,
- The interpretation of trace evidence (2,3)
Balance of independent study and scheduled teaching activity
The module is delivered via lectures, tutorials, workshops and practical sessions (38 hours). Tutorials will allow informal-teacher led discussions of the issues raised in the lectures and are also used to allow practice in the key skills of communication, interpretation and analysis through case studies and article reviews. Practical sessions are designed to allow the students to put the theory from lectures into practice utilising real-time experimental techniques and scenarios.
The remainder of the time allocated will be used for self-directed learning. Students will be expected to reflect upon taught material in order to demonstrate their understanding of the aspects of forensic science covered in this module. Students will be given guidance on what topics should be explored during their self-directed learning.
Learning outcomes
On successful completion of this module students will be able to:
1. Describe the composition of common examples of paint, glass and gunshot residues
2. Explain the forensic evidential value of trace evidence types and interpret and evaluate trace evidence casework findings.
3. Demonstrate and apply knowledge of the role of a trace evidence expert within a case, including the recovery, collection, preservation and documentation of trace evidence, and statement writing skills.